– Tessa
I fold and slide the note under the key.I take one last look around the space that held so much hope, and then I walk out.
I force myself to move.
Just one step, Tessa, one step.
Then another.
Then another.
The elevator doors close, and it feels like I can't breathe.
I give myself until the main floor to pull myself together.
I can fall apart when I am safe at home.
Chapter 35 - Nate
I burst through the door of the penthouse with enough force that it rattles the frame.
I went looking for her for the New Year's countdown, and Reeves told me she left.
She fucking walked out on the event.On me.
“Tessa?”
My voice echoes back at me.Too loud.Too raw.And it is only met with silence.
I pace through the living room, down the hall, my heart pounding against my ribs like it’s trying to break out.The apartment smells like her shampoo, her lotion, the lavender oil she keeps in that tiny roller in her bag...
But she’s not here.
The liquor isn't helping the situation, that much I know.I feel out of control right now, and that is not like me.But she left.
“Fuck,” I bark into the empty space, gripping the edge of the couch until my knuckles go white.
The guy’s filter in behind me, Reeves, Colby, Anders, McKenna and then...I have to blink twice to make sure I am seeing this right.
I bark out.“What the hell is she doing here?”
Colby lifts his hands, confused, drunk.“She… rode with us?She said you wanted her to come...I thought you knew...”
“I DIDN’T,”
Brielle cuts in.“Aaron and I are done.I saw Tessa leave the gala.Thought maybe you’d want...”
I see red.“You thought WRONG,” I snap.“Get out.”
Her lips tighten, eyes narrowing.“I was trying to help.I just want you to know I am here for you, Nate.”
“You don’t get to say a single word about helping me.Not after what you pulled last year."A cold feeling slithers up my spine."What did you say to her?”I grind out.
Brielle’s expression flickers, guilt, then hostility, then the smug arrogance I remember far too fucking well.“Only the truth,”.
And that sentence is gasoline poured over a match.
“What truth?”I snarl, stepping toward her.“That you torpedoed my life?That you are a money-hungry whore who cheated on me?That you can’t stand the fact that someone else loves me and I love her?”
